Posts Tagged ‘infertility’

Also check out our YouTube Channel: New Leaf Health Team – where there are some examples of kinesiology which support better thyroid function, and radio discussions regarding fertility, endocrine issues, thyroid problems… For example…

Our team offers acupuncture, naturopathy, kinesiology and microcurrent – all of which can support you in better fertility!

Madonna Guy
07 3348 6098
healthteam@newleafnaturaltherapies.com.au

If you and your partner have been trying to conceive for six months or more, have you considered getting your Thyroid checked? Optimal Thyroid function is crucial when it comes to fertility in both men and women.

But why is this fact so important when you are trying to get pregnant?

The Thyroid gland is known as the “Master Controller” as it controls your whole metabolism (how your body breaks down food and converts it into energy), brain and digestive function, blood pressure and even how fast your heart beats. In fact every cell in your body requires Thyroid hormone in order to function.

Certain prescription medications such as cholesterol lowering drugs and steroids can block Thyroid function but something as simple as a mineral deficiency also plays a major role in Thyroid health. A deficiency of the mineral Iodine for example can lower Thyroid function because Iodine is essential to produce Thyroid hormone.

Two of the most important female hormones are Oestrogen and Progesterone which need to be in balance for optimal fertility. If Progesterone levels fall, Oestrogen levels rise creating an imbalance called Oestrogen dominance. One of the main problems with oestrogen dominance is it causes the liver to produce what is called TBG (Thyroid Binding Globulin) which prevents Thyroid hormone from being utilised properly in each of your cells. This invariably leads to low Thyroid function.

Blood tests which only measure the amount of TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) you are producing is really an incomplete blood test, and may be interpreted by your GP as ‘normal’. If the blood test does not also test your levels of T4 as well as T3 (which is the active form of Thyroid hormone), you don’t truly know the whole picture.

When interpreting a Thyroid function blood test, what does the TSH level actually tell us? If you have insufficient T4 and T3, the TSH result will be high. Conversely your TSH level will be low if you have an excess of T4 and T3. Let’s not forget the amount of hormone actually being assimilated into each of your cells can be abnormal due to the presence of Thyroid Binding Globulin (TBG). You may not be efficiently converting inactive T4 into the active T3 form. Therefore a thorough Thyroid function test would check your levels of TSH, T4, T3, reverse T3 and autoantibodies (autoimmune disease indicator).

Hence women suffering from Oestrogen dominance may be exhibiting symptoms of Hypothyroidism (low functioning Thyroid) only to be told that everything looks ‘normal’ on their Thyroid test. Sound familiar? This is why an under functioning Thyroid can have a significant impact on your ability to conceive.

Some of the symptoms of low Thyroid function may include skipped or irregular periods, clotting and heavy bleeding, unexplained weight gain or difficulty losing weight (even if exercising and consuming a healthy diet), and fatigue. This is by no means a comprehensive list of symptoms and of course could be contributed to a myriad of other health conditions – however around 25% of women who have been previously diagnosed with unexplained infertility may have Hypothyroidism (low Thyroid hormone synthesis). Hypothyroidism can reduce the levels of Luteinising hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) which are essential for the maturation of egg follicles as well as your ovaries’ production of Oestrogen and Progesterone.

It is vitally important I believe to not only check your hormone levels, but to undergo a comprehensive Thyroid function test in order to get a clear understanding of the health of your body as a whole when preparing for a healthy conception and pregnancy.

Don’t despair if you feel like you have been doing everything ‘right’ diet and lifestyle wise – there may be light at the end of the tunnel! Working with a natural health care professional such as a Naturopath who understands the link between your Thyroid, hormones and infertility can support you on your conception journey. Healing factors such as poor digestive function for instance may be affecting how well your body converts Thyroid hormones into its active and useable form. Every patient is unique and requires a multi-faceted, personalised approach to treatment using a combination of nutritional supplements, diet, mineral therapy and herbal medicines.
Your Thyroid may just be the missing piece of the conception puzzle.

Energetically – who knows the cause of sickness? Where does internal pain, issues with our major organs such as the liver and kidneys, the stomach, small intestines, large intestines come from? Naturopathically, it has always been taught that step one for any long-term health problem has been to cleanse the body’s filters – the digestive tract, the liver, the immune system/lymphatic systems and the kidneys. Congestion in any of these areas can cause poor energy, poor circulation and poor detoxification of any of these systems.

In Chinese medicine it has always been taught that blocked energy starts this toxicity building up – Chi Nei Tsang helps with both – it starts to move the inflammation, the toxicity and the energy blockages that are stopping blood, lymphatic flow and nutrient absorption throughout our major organs.

Have you ever felt ‘knots’ in your stomach, tightness under the ribs, described this to your therapist who simply prescribed antacids or digestive enzymes? These is so much more to health than that…and the last thing you want is to suppress symptoms which may come back to haunt you down the track.

Our Foundations of Health programme is a nine month detoxification process which starts the body healing as our filters start to clear. It is a long process (quick and dirty detoxes rarely make lasting change) to health for some people.

“The Taoist sages of ancient China observed that humans often develop energy blockages in their internal organs that result in knots and tangles in their abdomens. These obstructions occur at the center of the body’s vital functions and constrict the flow of Chi (energy), our life-force. The negative emotions of fear, anger, anxiety, depression, and worry cause the most damage. Problems can also be caused by overwork, stress, accidents, surgery, drugs, toxins, poor food, and bad posture.

Through meditative practices the sages learned to look within themselves. They discovered the internal organs connect with the Five Forces of the Universe and provide a link between the human microcosm and the universal macrocosm. The organs contain the essences of the spiritual force of a human being. They also provide the physical lines of force that hold the body together and give it structure.

When obstructed the internal organs store unhealthy energies that can overflow into other bodily systems and surface as negative emotions and sickness. Always in search of an outlet, these negative emotions and toxic energies create a perpetual cycle of negativity and stress. (Fig. 1) If the negative emotions can’t find an outlet, they fester in the organs or move into the abdomen, the body’s “garbage dump.” The abdomen can process some emotional garbage, but more often it can’t keep up with the flow. The energetic center of the body located at the navel becomes congested and cut off from the rest of the body.

Fig. 1 Negative energy cycle leads to knots and tangles in the abdomen.

B. Chi Nei Tsang: A Method to Clear Blocked Energy

Chi, the life-force energy, moves through the body’s internal channels, nervous system, blood vessels, and lymph glands. These systems concentrate and cross paths in the abdomen which acts as their control center. Tensions, worries, and stresses of the day, month, or year accumulate there and are seldom dispersed. ‘These disturbances can cause physical tangling and knotting of the nerves, blood vessels, and lymph nodes. The result is the gradual obstruction of energy circulation.

The ancient Taoists realized that negative emotions cause serious damage to one’s health, impairing both physical and spiritual functions. They understood that each human emotion is an expression of energy and that certain emotions could indicate the negative energy behind many physical ailments. They also identified a specific cycle of relationships between the emotions and the organs. For example, the experience of a “knot” in one’s stomach indicated the presence of worry, the negative emotion that accumulates in the stomach and spleen.
The Taoists discovered that most maladies could be healed once the underlying toxins and negative forces were released from the body. They developed the art of Chi Nei Tsang to recycle and transform negative energies that obstruct the internal organs and cause knots in the abdomen. Chi Nei Tsang clears out the toxins, bad emotions, and excessive heat or heat deficiencies-that cause the organs to dysfunction. (Fig. 2)

We complement Chi Nei Tsang with all of the other services we provide in our clinic, in Wynnum Brisbane.

We know that Chi Nei Tsang is very energizing, strengthening, and detoxifying the internal organ systems of our body. It supports the removal of negative influences and is fantastic for intestinal blockages, cramps, knots, lumps, scarring, headaces, menstrual cramps, poor blood circulation, back pain, infertility, impotence and many other issues.

·Soft tissue injury: treating local pressure pain points and area of swelling

Gynecological Disorders

·Infertility and irregular menstruation

·Leukorrhea

·Uterine cramps

Common cold

Insomnia

Cupping is an ancient Chinese practice where the cup is suctioned, applied to the skin, and the pressure in the cup is reduced (by using change in heat or by suctioning out air), so that the skin and outer layers of the muscles are drawn up and into the cup. Sometimes the cup may be moved while the suction of skin is still active, causing pulling of the skin and muscle (gliding cupping).

This treatment has similarities to other massage techniques, such as the rapid skin pinching along the back.In that practice, the skin is pinched, sometimes at specific points (e.g., bladder meridian points), until a redness is generated.Cupping is applied by acupuncturists to certain acupuncture points, as well as to regions of the body that are affected by pain (where the pain is deeper than the tissues to be pulled).

When the cups are moved along the surface of the skin, the treatment is similar to sand scraping, a folk remedy of southeast Asia which is often carried out by scraping the skin with a coin or other object with the intention of breaking up stagnation.Movement of the cups is a gentler technique than sand scraping, as a lubricant allows the cup to slide.Still, a certain amount of bruising is expected both from fixed position cupping (especially at the site of the cup rim) and with movement of the cups (up to 2 weeks of bruising should be expected after cupping massage techniques).

Traditional cupping, with use of heated cups, also has some similarity to moxibustion therapy.Heating of the cups was the method used to obtain suction: the hot air in the cups has a low density and, as the cups cool with the opening sealed by the skin, the pressure within the cups declines, sucking the skin into it.In this case, the cups are hot and have a stimulating effect something like that of burning moxa wool.